Troublesome
by mesmerizedbyceruleaneyes
Summary: Mukahi Gakuto was a loudmouthed, inconsistent, boastful braggart. Yet Oshitari still wanted to be his doubles partner. They hadn't started off on the best of terms - but things improved. Dirty Pair ficcy for Oshitari Yuushi's birthday, 15th October!


**Troublesome**

Mukahi Gakuto was showy, inconsistent, temperamental, loudmouthed, and a braggart to boot – not exactly the most tasteful character one would want to share a few square meters of tennis court with. Oshitari Yuushi had never really known why, of the thousand-strong Hyotei tennis club, he had chosen Gakuto to be his doubles partner. It was quite an unexpected decision.

They had not hit it off immediately, no matter Yuushi's later claims to the contrary. In fact, the first thing Gakuto ever said to the Kansai native was, "Just shut up, you asshole!" when Yuushi had inquired as to what had happened to him. He did have his pride, even if it _was_ in tatters after a particularly humiliating match against Atobe.

Now, to understand this better, one must remember than Oshitari only joined Hyotei halfway through his first year of middle school when his family moved from Osaka to Tokyo. Also, he had only joined the tennis club at the beginning of his second year, having dropped out of the school orchestra that he had originally signed up for. He was thus a relative newcomer to the tennis club.

On the other hand, Gakuto had been in the club since his first year, which made him somewhat of an old hand. He knew several of the club's members and had a good idea of how things worked. He was, at the time when Yuushi joined, already an established 'club member' – that is, a club member with little hope of getting onto the team.

His inconsistency was certainly not an advantage; his showy moves were of little use. Yet, the redhead asserted himself loudly, boasting of his skills and bullying the freshmen. His pride was exceptionally fragile, which only encouraged others to damage it – his reaction was always dramatic.

Yuushi, as a newcomer, usually kept to himself and observed those around him, learning the ways of the club. It didn't take him long to notice the way some went out of their way to make fun of Gakuto, poking fun at his feminine appearance and dismissing his tennis as nothing worthy of note. Each time this happened, Gakuto would invariably flare up in rage, but be unable to force them to take back their words. Was it any wonder that Yuushi found him quite pathetic?

And so, one really could not blame Gakuto for snapping at the blunette – Yuushi's first remark to him had been, "You know, saying that you can do something when you can't isn't very healthy." He'd practically been asking to get snapped at, making such a comment in full knowledge of Gakuto's vile mood.

Perhaps his interest in Gakuto had stemmed from the way the redhead was a constant source of entertainment – whether exchanging coarse remarks with a classmate, leaping around the tennis court, or getting beaten up after having insulted a sempai. Yuushi had kept an eye on the redhead, fascinated by how very _odd_ the other boy seemed; to him, such things were impossible – albeit he himself could do plenty of other things that Gakuto could not.

When told to pair up for doubles practice, Gakuto had flashed into his mind almost immediately. Yuushi had turned the idea around in his head – he'd never seen Gakuto play doubles; now wouldn't be a bad time to start. And was it not all the better to observe first-hand?

Of course, the problem was actually to persuade Gakuto to pair up with him. They were, as mentioned previously, not on the best terms. Yuushi was sure the redhead wouldn't agree at once. Still, he made the offer – once, twice, thrice… it was the fifth attempt before Gakuto agreed. In fact, Gakuto didn't even bother going to other people to look for a partner – he'd been waiting for Yuushi.

The first time they'd played together was surprisingly not so bad a disaster as Yuushi had expected it to be. He managed to adapt unexpectedly easily to Gakuto's jumps and volleys, though there were the usual new-doubles-pair hiccups that all pairs went through at the beginning. They crashed into each other at least twice per game, argued over whose ball it should have been, got irritated with each other when the other didn't do what he was supposed to have done, etc. – but the next time there was doubles practice, Yuushi found that Gakuto was waiting for him again.

Working together, Yuushi helped his new doubles partner improve on his style, stamina, accuracy and more. Gakuto began to talk less and play more; he gradually became less touchy and presumptive, instead listening to what people were saying without jumping to conclusions before they finished speaking. When selection arrived, he made the team along with Yuushi, much to the incredulity of most of the club members. Atobe had raised his eyebrows, whether to express skepticism or amazement no one knew; Sakaki-sensei, as usual, made no comment.

They and the team promptly began training for the next year's National Championships. Gakuto got into catfights with teammate Shishido Ryou and incurred the wrath of the great Atobe-sama for incessantly disturbing teammate Akutagawa Jirou's afternoon naps. Yuushi watched, shrugged, and dusted off his irate doubles partner when he emerged from the fray, commenting little but for an occasional long-suffering remark to the tune of "Sometimes I wonder whether you're more trouble than you're worth." That normally earned him a fist in his stomach or a kick to his shins.

Shishido and a first-year, Ootori Choutarou, formed the teams second doubles pair late in the year. There was a certain something about them that somehow rendered them hypersensitive to the actions of their partner, though at that time it had been much less pronounced that it was during the Championships. From his observations, Yuushi concluded that the odd synchronization had to be related to Choutarou's absolute adoration of his sempai and Shishido's unusual protectiveness and gruff kindness that only applied to the younger boy. Gakuto had watched them, listened to the blunette, and told him on no uncertain terms that he would never willingly look at Yuushi the way Choutarou did Shishido. Yuushi only laughed and changed the subject.

As time passed, Yuushi began to see what exactly Gakuto had always been hiding, gradually began to understand his circumstances. The youngest of three sons of a first-generation millionaire who had painstakingly built his fortune, he had never really experienced parental affection – they believed he had no potential whatsoever, except perhaps as a drag queen. Of course, they did not approve of his chosen androgynous appearance, putting him in Hyotei's boarding school with pockets more than deep enough to fund his schooling and other expenses.

Gakuto was indeed fragile – not allowing others to get close for fear they would hurt him, yet wanting them to come close to satisfy his parched thirst for affection. Outwardly, he maintained a façade of rebellion and typical teen angst, pretending to be a rough-mouthed punk. After prolonged association, Yuushi dug out the redhead's true personality – he was much more similar to a lost puppy than a punk rocker. Lonely, afraid, unsure… those were only some of the traits that Yuushi saw.

It was thus not too shocking for him to find the redhead curled up in the clubroom, morbidly tracing the veins on his left arm with a pen knife. Unlike most people, who would probably have freaked out and rushed to snatch the knife away, firing questions at Gakuto the whole while, Yuushi only leaned against the door frame and said, "That penknife is blunt; use a better one."

Gakuto stared at him, and in his eyes was desperation that went beyond Yuushi's understanding. "Are you going to get me a better one?"

"No." Yuushi met his partner's gaze squarely. "You are not going anywhere without me, and _I_ want the sharper knife, thank you very much."

For some reason, Yuushi didn't get hit for reminding Gakuto of his vow to not emulate Choutarou. On the contrary, Gakuto informed him that that vow had been trashed, a long time ago.

--

**A/N: Okay… this was super morbid and all, but it was **_**supposed**_** to be a birthday fic for Yuushi. Ugh. It isn't even well-written… yeah, go ahead and complain... –resigned- just try not to flame, ne? **

**Happy birthday Oshitari Yuushi!! Dirty Pair fic without any real birthday references, but heck, inspiration's slow and I'm dead tired. The exam results suck, which really doesn't help.**

**Review Please!**

**P.S. If anyone wants to ask how I managed to write this even though I'm supposed to be updating my multichapter fics, I AM updating them… just slowly… DX yeah, try not to kill me.**


End file.
